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About this blog

Mostly Atari-related projects, and other ramblings. Home of the Artie the Atari comic strip.

Entries in this blog

Comic Strips

When Artie flickers, it hertz

And then...     Up next, the shocking penultimate episode!! Don't miss it!!   (Okay... actually, you won't miss it. This isn't some limited edition version of the comic strip. I'm saving that for the "prototype episode".  )   3 < PreviousIndexNext >
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum in Comic Strips

1
Comic Strips

Stripping

I was digging through some old files on my computer, and ran across a few comic strips I did while participating in Pitfall Harry's Contest of Doom. This was in May, 2003, about six months after I signed on at AtariAge.   These were done as parodies of Pitfall Harry's strip Crane's World. I named mine Carl Wonders, since it's an anagram of Crane's World, and the contest (a series of puzzles) included anagrams in it (among other things - it was a very tough contest).   Anyway,
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum in Comic Strips

6

Homebreviews - part 13

I'm finally catching up on the rest of my Homebrew Reviews. There's a bunch of them this time, and they're all transplants of one sort or another. But first... I'm now up to 199 unique 2600 games! (Update - that number has since gone up.) Isn't it purty? Fun game, too! I've been looking for a CIB Threshold, and now I have it, thanks to Atarimania75, who is selling off parts of his collection here, here, here and here. He's got some good stuff in there, including some nice rarities, so che
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

12

100th Stupid Blog Entry!

Somehow, I've stuck with this whole "Blog" fad long enough to crank out 100 entries. And much to my surprise, just this past week, I passed Manuel's Blog as the "Most Viewed" at AtariAge:     So to all of the people who have been reading my blog, all I have to say is...   ...don't you have something better you could be doing??     Seriously though, thanks for reading. Hopefully some of it has been interesting, and maybe, occasionally, even useful.   Pffft! Ha! I knew I couldn't k
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6

Pixar's best?

I just went and saw Disney's Pixar's Ratatouille last night.   Even though Surf's Up was a good movie... Ratatouille is a great one. It's an order of magnitude better than anything else out there. (Sorry, Jeff.)   Pixar has set a new standard for animated films. Not merely CG animated films, but animated films, period. The animation is absolutely incredible, and would be, regardless of the medium. Computers do not make animation this good - people do. Pixar has the best animators, and in Bra
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

4

Go Speed, Go!

In case you didn't know, the Wachowski brothers (of the Matrix films) are making a live-action version of Speed Racer.   So... okay then.   This project has kicked around Hollywood for years (once rumored to have Tom Cruise attached to it as Speed, to give you an idea of how long ago this was), and although I've been a Speed Racer fan since I was a little kid, neither of the two series' revivals were any good (although the Japanese one wasn't nearly as bad as the American one), so I've alwa
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

3

Great... now both thumbs hurt

After some time away from it, I'm playing in the 2600 High Score Club again (not to be confused with the 2600 Mile High Club), and this week's game is Activision's Robot Tank. Not sure why I never bought this one back in the day. It's much better than Atari's 2600 version of Battlezone (yes... I know people disagree with me about that), since to me - it's closer to the arcade version of Battlezone. The tank is first-person perspective, instead of sitting above and behind it, and you're only deal
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

3

Encavedavators Amiss

Recently, I had the good fortune to win the Elevators Amiss label contest. I say good fortune, because in addition to some really good labels from other entrants, I was having no luck coming up with an idea for the label, until the last day of the contest. Finally, the idea of having the maid falling into the elevator shaft and clinging onto the cable struck me, and after a half-dozen sketches, I finally came up with this one:     There are a few things that are kind of odd about the sketch
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

4

Blog's Up!

Well, I've been pretty busy lately, but things are finally starting to calm down now.   Except for the electrical fire in the server room at work yesterday. But hey - that wasn't my fault.   Anyway... the school year at the college I work at ended a few weeks ago. This time with a twist - I graduated along with everyone else!   Well... not everyone. But the graduating class of 2007. Even though I haven't been a student since 1994.   It's a lonnnng story, but I was supposed to graduate in
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

5

One and Only

About a month before passing away last Summer, Maynard Ferguson recorded what turned out to be his last album. It's just been released, and is now available exclusively through Maynard's website (and iTunes).     I was rather disappointed with his previous album, MF Horn VI: Live at Ronnie's. Of course, recording live albums is always hit-or-miss. However, since that album was recorded, Maynard had gotten into better shape physically, and his playing had improved dramatically, according to
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

3

Homebreviews - part 12

Continuing with the latest batch of reviews. This time: Puzzle Games! AStar 4/5 AStar is a puzzle game with a unique play mechanic. The object of the game is to move a yellow pie-shaped character (Bob) around a maze, and collect various items. What makes it unique, is that you can only move in straight lines, and can't stop until you run into something. To help you navigate the maze, you can switch over to another character - a yellow square (Alan) - that moves the same way. Using the two char
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

5

To-Do Redo

Well, it's time to consolidate my To-Do list, so I can actually update the thing without getting hopelessly confused.   Homebrew stuff: Manual and label for another 2600 homebrew - In progress Sprites for Moon Cresta homebrew - In progress Sprites for still-yet-another-arcade-port - In progress Sprites for yet-another-arcade-port - In progress Atari logo on a Mac folder icon - Starting soon Sprites for Wizard of Wor Arcade - In progress Revised sprite for Thomas - In progress T
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

32

Unfiltered noise

What are meetings good for?   Sketching, of course!   Some of my favorite drawings have come in the form of spur-of-the-moment little sketches that I've done while waiting for meetings to end.   I'd been thinking about Fred's SuperBug game on the 2600, and started sketching VW bugs. I don't know if he's planning a contest for the label or not, but I hope so. I've loved drawing cars since I was a kid, and the bug is probably the most fun car to draw, from a cartoonist's perspective.   So
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

8

McIdiots

So... I went to McDonald's for lunch today.   Usually, I avoid McDonald's. Childhood memories aside, their food is generally garbage, and they have idiots working there.   Now, I'm not saying everyone who works at a McDonald's is an idiot. Sometimes we're forced by economic circumstances to work in places we don't want to. And let's face it - nearly every place has at least one idiot working there.   But at McDonald's, they tend to put the idiots in the Drive-Thru. I have proof of this.  
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2

Homebreviews - part 11

Despite the fact that it's almost April, any time of the year is gaming season! Holiday Qb (The 2004 AtariAge Holiday Cart) 4/5 Holiday Qb is an action/puzzle game based on the original 2600 homebrew Qb. The goal is to move sliding pieces around a playfield to match displayed patterns, while collecting bonus items and avoiding enemies. The Holiday aspect of it comes into play with modified graphics reflecting a Holiday theme. Santa Claus, elves, wreaths and other items replace the original Qb
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

12

Homebreviews - part 10

This time... no actual games! Just little black, plastic boxes that do other things. First though, for the Synthcart, I picked up a pair of Atari Keyboard controllers from Atari2600.com. Since the overlay that's available for the Synthcart isn't designed to fit these controllers, I ended up making my own. They're available as a PDF file, for anyone who wants to use them. (Yes, you have to cut out the little black circles by hand.) Then, for the AtariVox, I built a mixing circuit, so I could
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

11

Homebreviews - part 9

Well, looks like I'll start off this batch of reviews with the sole 7800 title in the lot.   I still recall first reading about the 7800 as if it were yesterday...   Not that it's all that clear, mind you. It's just that I can't remember much about what I did yesterday.   Anyway, Electronic Games magazine had a huge preview of the Atari 7800 in their September, 1984 issue. I remember being wowed by the graphics, and all the specs they were throwing around. The fact it could play all of my
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

0

14 x 2600 + 1

I just got my latest haul from AtariAge, which means it will soon be time for... more Homebreviews!   A lot of them.   I'm also going to write reviews for a few things not shown here, just to have a complete set of reviews for everything I've gotten from AtariAge.   First though... it looks like I'm going to have to dust off my 7800.  
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

7

One hundred, ninety eight...

Well, who knew?   With all of the games I've been getting through AtariAge, plus a few used ones I was given by a friend of mine, my collection of Atari 2600 games has reached nearly 200 unique titles (from the 131 I originally had, back-in-the-day).   This is my 2600 Game List (36k PDF file - you'll need to zoom in to read it). It's sorted based on when I bought the games - as part of my original collection, or as a recent acquisition, with duplicates listed at the bottom.   Actually, I d
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6

Tales from... THE FUTURE!

Working at a film school, dealing with technology every day, means I have to try and keep up on what's happening in video, computers and software as a regular part of my job. I seem to spend more time every year just trying to get a handle on new technology coming down the pike.   Also, I'm a Mac user, which is an interesting pursuit because of the whole rumor community that has popped up around Apple and its products. Trying to predict where they're going next seems to be a past-time for some
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2

And then...

Well, it's January. Barely, but it's still January.   So it's time to dust off the old "To Do" list, and see what I have left to do in the upcoming year.   First, let's check the previous list(s)...   From February, 2006: Make "To-Do" List - This one never ends. Finish Colony 7 Sprites - Done! (game in progress) Finish Lady Bug sprites - Done! (and in the store) Make label for Four-Play - Done! (and in the store) Make Juno First sprites - Done! (game in progress) Make list of w
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

7

Spit into the Wind!

After reading Mezrabad's review of Human Cannonball, and the subsequent comments about the classic game Artillery, I remembered a graphical hack I did of Kirk Crawford's version of Artillery for the Mac.   I created this back around 1990. Re-titled "Spit into the wind", it featured two caricatures of my college profs hocking loogies at each other. So I thought, "Hey! This is another (fanfare please)... Stupid Game Idea!" It would be a natural for the 2600. While there's already an Artillery-ty
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

22

So... many... Daves...

First things first - Happy New Year!   Yeah, okay, I'm a little late with that.   I've been on vacation for a few weeks, after having wrapped up the projects mentioned in my last entry. The games seem to be reaching the hands of their owners at last (I don't envy the task Albert had in putting all of the orders together), and I hope everyone enjoys them! Being involved with various aspects of some of these games (sprites and other artwork) I generally play them quite a lot before they hit th
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

8

Shut up!

Finally!   After a few very frantic weeks, I've managed to all-but wrap up a bunch of projects.   The semester at work is ending this Friday, and I taught my last class Monday. Of course, when January rolls around, I get to start it all over again.   The manuals for Space Battle, Phantom II/Pirate and the AtariVox are basically finished, and are just going through final proof-reading now.   And yes, since they're already on sale, that's probably a good thing.   The sprites for Toysho
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

8
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